Extraterrestrial Stone Found in Egypt May Be First Evidence on Earth of Rare Supernova

A dense white dwarf star subsumes another star in a standard candle supernova explosion, which is one of the most energetic events in the Universe. Scientists think they have found the first evidence of a supernova on Earth.

The stone was found in Egypt in 1996. The chemical makeup and patterning of the rock suggest that there are bits of the dust and gas cloud surrounding an Ia supernova.

The mix of dust and gas would have turned into a solid and formed the parent body of the Solar System.

A sample of stone. Romano Serra is a person.

The gas atoms from the explosion were caught in the surrounding dust cloud, which eventually formed the parent body.

The team looked at 17 different targets using non-destructive chemical analysis techniques. It was a question of figuring out where the stone had been and how it had formed.

The clues showed that the rock had not been formed in the inner Solar System. The researchers noticed that the object was different from anything in our neighborhood in space because of the high levels of iron, sulfur, phosphorus, copper, and vanadium.

There were differences in the concentration of elements found in rocks from inside the Solar System and in our arm of the Milky Way. The rock was formed from a red giant star.

The researchers were able to show that, if it were to come from a type II supernova, it would have too much iron and not enough calcium.

If the hypothesis is correct, the Hypatia stone would be the first tangible evidence of an Ia explosion.

It shows that a piece of dust from outer space could be incorporated into the solar system without being fully mixed in.

From what we know of type Ia supernovas, they should produce unusual element concentration patterns in rocks. The team was unable to find a better match for the rock through a comprehensive search of star data and modeling.

If the object had come from a dense white dwarf star explosion, several elements in the stone matched what would be expected.

It is not a closed case yet. There are six elements that do not match type 1a supernova models. The researchers think that this could be related to the past of the supernova.

Since a white dwarf star is formed from a dying red giant, the proportions of the elements could have been passed on to Hypatia.

At this point, it looks like the rock has traveled a long way, but we need more research.

The research has been published.